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It started as most addictions do – slowly, stealthily slithering into my day. It began with just 10-15 minutes before work – then, another 20 minutes during lunch. By the end of the day, it consumed my entire commute home from work. And, before I realized it, I was spending my weekends mainlining it like a two-bit junkie – my iPhone ear buds snuggled comfortably in my ears as I listened hours on end to multiple episodes of The Moth, This American Life,Welcome to Night Vale, and Serial. I now confess…I’m a podcast addict! Since the beginning of time, we yearn for engagement in a great story and interesting characters – It’s the reason we’ve loved to read a good book or watch a great movie. Now, we have new ways to consume these stories.

Podcasts provide modern mobility for on-demand storytelling in a format with few boundaries – They’re working their way into our mainstream digital media and opening doors to new audiences one download at a time. Businesses, non-profit organizations, and entrepreneurs are podcasting their content to new audiences around the world. They now have this new tool in their arsenal to expand the reach of their brands, deepen their customer engagement, and further their knowledge leadership. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone enjoys listening to a great story. Using podcast technology to share your story can be a powerful resource…use it wisely.

How many articles do you read that just re-spin the same information over and over again? There are so many questions people have that are just not being answered. So, my intention with this article is different. I ask YOU, what topics you would like to read/learn/hear more about?

What type of business questions would you like answered?

What topics of advice would you like to learn about?

Do you prefer to read articles, listen to podcasts, webinars, or have the option to do both?

Are you interested in learning how to do your current job better or how to transition into a new job or industry?

I am on a quest to learn more about YOU. I want to learn more about the information that YOU and others like YOU are interested in.

Please take a moment to answer the above questions in this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YTN7KCB. I’m NOT selling anything nor will I be soliciting you afterward. I am sincerely just trying to learn more about the professional curiosities that are important to YOU and your peers.

Each week I make time for personal and professional development. I find it invigorating. Given the magic of the Internet, we now have so many options to grow our knowledge base. For me, I enjoy listening to podcasts, reading ebooks and articles, and watching TED Speaker videos. While we’re all pressed for time, there are so many alternatives that there’s something for everyone.

Most recently, while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, “Get Busy Living”with Benny Hsu, I was reminded of something my mother used to tell me; “You become the company you keep.” Meaning, choose your friends and colleagues carefully.

Benny’s podcast topic, “Why Choosing Who You Spend the Most Time With is So Important for Your Future.” Benny argues, we don’t pay enough attention to the people with whom we spend the most time. He cites a theory by Jim Rohn, a personal development expert, who believes that we become the combined average of the five people we hang around the most. Rohn suggests that the combined influence of our “circle of five” contributes to our attitude, health and income.

Additionally, entrepreneur Todd Smith writes, that our “associations are some of the most powerful factors in determining who you become and what you accomplish in your life. As an example, if we hang out with pessimistic people who are critical of us, their negative comments will likely impact how we view our abilities and our self-image.”

So how do we gain better control of this situation? The first logical step is to disassociate from the people who contribute negative energy in our space. If the “toxic people” are part of our work environment and thus impossible to completely avoid then we need a plan to limit our exposure and time in their presence. While we can’t control the people around us, we can control how we respond and react to them.

Second and equally important is the energy we spend in broadening our circle of influence. Quite simply, we need to better fill our time and emotional space with positive, supportive, and enthusiastic people with whom we have shared interests. Consequently, we reduce our time with negative influences. And, thanks to the Internet we are able to connect with positive, supportive people by finding local groups, organizations, and online discussion forums. We can now meet new people and connect through blogs, email, Skype, and podcasts. Positive support and influences are more accessible than ever before.

So I leave you with this challenge. If the people in your “circle of five” are not providing you with the positive, supportive, and enthusiasm you need to grow it’s not too late. Change the company you keep. Expand your circle of influence outside of its current inhabitants. A positive environment has a much more powerful influence on our lives than we realize.

Let’s be honest, few hotels have the human resources to commit to a full-time manager for their social media marketing effort. So, in order to still participate in the social networks, hotel brands and franchises take a cluster approach to their social media program. They group their hotels by brand, geographic territory, or destination and centrally post to all hotels in that grouping. While this may be cost-effective, are they achieving the results they expect? Are they generating sales leads, increasing restaurant patrons, and enhancing their customer experience?

Providing engaging and property-specific content on a regular basis takes time. It also requires a strategic plan and the ability to manage and adjust that plan as needed. If you can’t afford to hire a full-time employee on-site, then look to outsourcing your content or social media services. However, you will definitely want someone who understands both your hotel, the industry in general, and social media marketing. Social media marketing is now a professional discipline not a trend. Just because a college student can use Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and take a “selfie” doesn’t mean they understand the business of hotels or more importantly, the sales and marketing process. In other words, just because I know how to drive a car doesn’t mean you want me to rebuild your car’s engine.

Effectively participating in Twitter and Facebook encourages your sales prospects to become more engaged in what you have to offer and more inclined to make a booking or contact you directly. If your Twitter or Facebook strategies aren’t providing measurable or at least trackable results, determine why and adjust accordingly.

Daily monitoring of Google Analytics allows hotels to track visitors to each landing page, determine where in the sales process potential page visitors are likely to be, and then deliver a clear and effective call-to-action that will drive them to make hotel reservations, restaurant reservations or book a catering event.

Remember, one of the best features of social media is the relative low-cost or no cost associated with this marketing vehicle. Photos can be candid shots or pictures taken by guests. Sales departments can create videos in-house without fancy equipment. Photos and videos are great and should be strategic in their frequency and audience. One of the best byproducts of videos is that it increases your hotel’s search engine optimization organically. A couple of hotels that have done a nice job are The Westin Atlanta Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, and Boca Raton Resort, Boca Raton, Florida.

Having spent over twenty years in hotel sales and marketing, the best part of my job was the personal interaction with guests, clients, and colleagues. Making a personal and human connection with people is one of the key touchstones of a successful hotel. Why not use your social media marketing plan to further that engagement before, during, and after your clients come to your hotel? Make your hotel more than just a destination…make it a community.

I’m a voracious reader. I’m always in the middle of at least 2-3 books of which, at least one is a novel. I recently finished Inferno by Dan Brown. Without coming across like a book critic, let’s just say that it wasn’t worth the time it took me to drudge through to the end. Quite simply, the plot was thin, disjointed, and read like a travel log through Italy, I realized one of my greatest disappointments was my lack of investment in the characters. I didn’t care enough about the protagonists even though I read Brown’s other books.

Eager to cleanse my disappointment, I browsed through every bestseller list reading reviews, editorials, and sample chapters. Once again I realized I was looking for a novel with characters worthy of my investment. The story’s important, but a really great protagonist can make just about any story more interesting. The best fiction writers create characters that are multi-dimensional, relatable, and charismatic. The reader wants to spend time, invest time with him/her. They want to be an existential part of the story.

This investment in the main characters holds true in all aspects of life. Think about your best friends – – Your favorite bosses – – Your mentors and colleagues – – Your favorite sales people. We have choices. I go out of my way to purchase and service my car tires from a certain shop because the guys are honest, genuine, and always pleasant. I can probably buy the same tires and other car services elsewhere for even a few bucks less. But I like these guys and I’m invested in them as people.

Ultimately, whether we’re talking about characters in a book or the people with whom we do business, it’s the connection we have with the individual that makes the difference. Like the books we read, we want to work with people who are invested in us and with whom we are invested. Who is worth your investment?

I haven’t written an article for my blog in a while. It’s certainly not for lack of something to say, in fact quite the contrary. There are so many topics worth discussing lately that it can be overwhelming. With information flying at me from so many sources and at lightning speed, I often find myself on the verge of information overload. Sound familiar to anyone else? So with all of this two-way information at hand, why have I not contributed to my own blog? Well, I’ve been taking time for some retrospection.

Retrospection: Proactive vs. Reactive“The act or process or an instance of surveying the past.” – – Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Quite often we find ourselves in a perpetual forward motion. Have you ever felt that the tools we’re using to better manage our time, clients, businesses, and family have now turn the tables on us and taken control of our lives? Between our Outlook calendars alerts, Google alerts, Task List alerts, Reminder pop-ups, and smartphones buzzing, beeping and singing at us, it occurred to me that I forgot to schedule time to breath!

So, it’s not that we never stop to reevaluate our lives, priorities, clients, businesses, and family. However, we usually do so when we encounter some convergence of due dates or inciting event that causes us to take pause, reboot, and adjust accordingly. In other words, our time for retrospection and reprioritizing are reactive. I think we can all agree that we could reduce our stress, increase our productivity, and enjoy our personal/family time if we took a proactive approach to the act of retrospection. But then retrospection is just the first step.

Introspection: Part of the Process“A reflective looking inward. – – Merriam-Webster Dictionary
In the context of this discussion, the inward reflection is part of evaluating and reevaluating our business goals and their alignment with our personal goals. I think we all feel better when we’re enjoying our work life and personal life. We find greater balance, satisfaction, and peace when our clients, colleagues, family, and friends are happy and satisfied. We feel a greater sense of accomplishment when we’ve met all reasonable expectations of those in our two worlds.

Now, how do we begin? Well, each of us needs to find our individual path. For some, talking with colleagues, friends, and family, provides insight into our priorities. Others may seek spiritual guidance, guidance from a personal or professional mentor, or simply a quiet escape to the beach or mountains away from the noise of our busy world.

Some Tips to Consider

Old School (but it works for me): Use a yellow legal pad and draw a line down the middle of the page. In the left hand column, write down the results of your retrospective process. (a) What have you been doing that you know you want to improve upon or simply do differently. (b) Where has your energy been focused? (c) How has your time been allocated? In the right hand column, write down how you’re going to make the adjustments. Feel free to brainstorm with others involved so you get perspectives other than your own. Moreover, involving others in reassessing business priorities and goals increases the chance that you’ll gain support and buy-in for these changes.

Overcoming Fear: Let’s face it, the greatest barrier to any change (personal or professional) is the fear associated with that change. Will we make the “right” decisions? What if we fail? What if others don’t like our retrospection and their corresponding future changes? At the end of the day, we need to remind ourselves that we will never make everyone happy 100% of the time. Change is scary whether you’re the one initiating the change or the one experiencing the change. However, as I continue to be reminded, change is always easier when you are proactively changing versus reactively changing.

Looking Back to the Future: Retrospection allows us the time to analyze our past, and redesign our future. It’s the time to hit the Control+ALT+Delete and “reboot” our systems. We need to embrace our successes, learn from our failures, and be excited and invigorated about our future.

Now that information is so freely accessible through the Internet, websites need to be more than a “store front” for your association; they need to be a resource for information that is useful and can’t be found elsewhere. As they phrase goes, “content is king.” The most robust association websites provide content that offers value to its members, keeps them returning to the site, and encourages them to forward your information (a link to your website) to other members and prospects.

Why Is This Important?One of the greatest challenges for associations is finding relevance and creating value to its members and communities. One of the most cost-effective ways to meet this challenge is to create and maintain a website that is a knowledge center. Websites need to offer robust content, useful information, user-friendly resources, and ways for members to become engaged in your association’s community.

Do and Don’tHere are just a few do’s and don’ts

Don’t just supply links on your website to other websites that provide the information they’ve come to your website to find. While this is a shortcut to offering resources, it takes people away from your website. More importantly, it conveys the message that someone else has better information than you can provide. Result, they will “bookmark” those websites and leapfrog your association’s website the next time they need similar information.

Don’t be one-dimensional in your content. Chances are your association’s members have an array of needs, interests, and ways they find value in their membership. In other words, your website needs something for everyone; your content needs to be balanced.

Do update your content often. If members don’t see new information each time they visit your site they won’t find a reason to come back. Once you’ve updated your content, send an email to your members highlighting the new content they will find on the site. If they go to the site often enough, it will then become a habit. Note: Sending this email on the same day of the week each week creates anticipation.

Do be a knowledge center/knowledge leader. People return to websites that demonstrate knowledge and expertise in their field. They like to have one place to locate all information without going to multiple sites. Use the expertise and thought leaders in your organization to demonstrate the level of knowledge your organization represents.

Do utilize social media, video, webinars, and blogs to offer multiple ways for people to engage in your organization. People learn and consume information in different ways. If your membership is multi-generational, it’s important to provide vehicles for communication and information dissemination in ways that are accessible to everyone. Added benefit: Using multiple media tools increases your visibility on a Google search.

Next Steps?Let’s get started:

Define the core value of your association. What does (or can) your association offer that can’t be found elsewhere?

Fill in the Blank: “We want our members, prospective members and the communities we serve to think of us as ____________.”

Create a plan and process for updating your site, keeping it relevant, and discussing the analytics. What web pages are popular, how often are members coming to the site, and how is your engagement is being effected.

Ask for member and community feedback along the way.

While this is just a brief overview, remember that a robust association website provides content that offers value to its members, keeps them returning to the site, and encourages them to forward your information to others.

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